Unnerving Magazine Review
Short stories in a short collection, much of Dustin LaValley’s A Soundless Dawn has an I-can’t-quite-put-a-finger-on-it feeling. This is a product of the flash pieces and micro flash pieces. One sentence, two, ten sentences, these little stories freckle this collection with a strange dread, a longing, a darkness that carries a feeling of… hmm. This is not a bad feeling, it is unusual and endearing, like wine-tasting from someone's brainpan. These little bridges do a strangely big job piecing together the short stories, which for most parts are good, leaning to great.
In one instance, worth the cover price and probably then some, is an incredible story of rich humanity and emotion. Sand Bucket feels very much like something penned by Harlan Ellison, though done so without the pretension. It’s a grim and dark tale of the world surrounding a boy and his bucket of sand. It really was a tremendous piece of fiction and I'll do it no justice explaining any further.
A Soundless Dawn is equal parts intriguing and curious. It’s quietly dark and drips emotion. This is one of the best Sinister Grin books I’ve read yet.